Mellow Moyes could dispel Everton scent of dissent

By Henry Winter

12:01AM GMT 09 Dec 2003

Which team contains seven letters, begins with 'E' and has Wayne Rooney playing for them? That's right: England.

Goodison Park regulars will tell you that Rooney has hardly played for Everton this season, fading into a gentle breeze compared to the hurricane that flattened Premiership defences last season. Put Rooney in an England shirt and he returns to tornado strength, brimming with a touch and swagger that makes his Everton form so bemusing.

Rooney is not alone at Everton in excelling more for country than club; just look at Thomas Gravesen, imperious for Denmark while dismantling England's vaunted midfield during last month's friendly at Old Trafford. Like Sven-Goran Eriksson with Rooney, Morten Olsen brings the best out of Gravesen. Everton's manager, David Moyes, should reflect on that sobering reality.

Moyes is an impressive man and manager, an individual possessed of the same work ethic that carried other Scots, from Jock Stein to Sir Alex Ferguson, to sustained prominence. Last season, Moyes steered Everton to seventh, reaping garlands of praise that cannot be cancelled retrospectively simply because his players have misplaced map and compass en route to goal.

Having strengthened in the summer, Everton should really have maintained their momentum. Like Rooney, they stutter from the dressing room, shedding some unity and determination. Goodison's grandees strongly deny that Moyes has lost the players but the scent of dissent is inescapable.

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Senior players have been whispering their disapproval of Moyes' strenuous training regime, that Bellefield has become a boot camp. But when Duncan Ferguson, of all professionals, argues that the players are so tired after overtime on the drill field that they wilt during games, the temptation is to dissolve into laughter and not simply because Everton often come on strong during games.

Ferguson is living off distant memories of forceful line-leading and the cult worship of rebel-loving supporters; he should save his breath for delivering on match days. Employees paid £40,000 a week should be able to manage a post-lunch shift on the training ground. Moyes has every right to work the players hard; when he arrived, most in the dressing room were delighted to have a disciplinarian in charge after a period of laxness.

One of football's great rules is, always listen to Scottish managers, unless of course they happen to be Ally MacLeod. Everton's players could do with heeding the counsel of their manager. Rooney must know that he and Moyes share a common aim, to make Everton a respected force in football again. Rooney's relationship with his manager is hardly ideal but Moyes has every right to tell this teenage talent to grasp some silverware before seizing the sponsors' shilling.

Moyes moved Rooney into his most productive position, scheming off the strikers, against Manchester City on Sunday and still the youngster performed so poorly that he deserved his half-time hooking. His replacement, James McFadden, another who could revive Everton fortunes, must also learn to accept certain tactical restraints imposed by a manager thinking of the team's overall shape and benefit.

Equally importantly, Moyes should be aware of - and act on - the grievances of the dressing room. It is part of modern football's realpolitik that Moyes cannot rule Premiership Everton as he did at Nationwide Preston North End where players instinctively obey because the mortgage needs paying. Moyes now works with millionaires and different skills are required. Slamming an iron fist on the dressing-room table does not necessarily work; even Sir Alex Ferguson, the last of the great crockery-throwers, is a master of the uplifting compliment to a player.

Moyes drives his players remorselessly at Bellefield. He rarely celebrates their individual or collective success at Goodison. Yet constant cajoling carries a greater impact when laced with occasional acclaim. Not all praise softens players; it can inspire and bond them closer to a manager.

Moyes should open up to intelligent souls like Alan Stubbs, a true-blue Evertonian. He should put an arm around Rooney, who also loves the club. In turn, Everton's players must remember that the club who reward them so handsomely will be revived only through their improved application of the manager's wishes. But it would be unwise to bet against Moyes galvanising Everton again; his alchemist's touch will return.